The Best SoCal Dispensaries Are Outside LA, Says New List

Angelino stoners with discerning taste might need to get out of the city to find the best bud service, according to a new list from Leafly.

The quarterly, regional list compiles consumer feedback given to the online weed encyclopedia. Then, of course, an algorithm compares the various dispensaries and, presto: you get a comprehensive list of the best dispensaries for nine regions around North America: Arizona, Northern California, Southern California, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia.

Los Angeles has become a mecca of sorts for cannabis customer service. With the city’s estimated 1,700 dispensaries, competition is fierce. And yet, somehow, the city still doesn’t have the best collectives in the region, at least according to Leafly users.

The top two marijuana dispensaries in Southern California are, according to the Fall 2017 list, CaptainJacks in Upland, and Mankind Cooperative in San Diego. The appeal for CaptainJacks is not hard to understand. It scored a 94.0 on the website’s index and is, according to Leafly, “the only full service dab bar in the Inland Empire” and “always buzzing with social events and activities.”

Meanwhile, Mankind Cooperative has a little more of a sober atmosphere, registering a 93.08 index score and featuring “regular patient education events designed to help the San Diego cannabis community stay,” as well as “tailored recommendations, low prices, and large selection.”

That isn’t to say that Los Angeles doesn’t have any quality collectives. Of the 20 dispensaries on the list, 13 are located in LA. Grabbing the bronze medal this fall is CHR (California Herbal Remedies), a ten year-old dispensary on the city limits near Monterey Park.

A little more centrally located is the fourth best dispensary in SoCal, Cannabal City Collective, a Boyle Heights shop with house-grown flowers and a diverse selection of edibles and concentrates. Cannabal fell just slightly from its rank at #2 on the list last summer, but we can’t hold that against them. The kids outside the city have just been stepping up their game is all.